July 1: More letters to the editor

June 30, 2010

Biased columnist

Ed Prior's letter ("Biased pundits," June 24) laments the criticism of President Barack Obama by conservatives he claims "spend every waking hour" thinking of ways to tear him down concerning the Gen. Stanley McChrystal debacle. Prior demands conservatives act more "thoughtfully" and less reactive in their critiquing of Obama.

Apparently, Prior's memory doesn't allow him to recall the character assassinations and lies perpetrated by the left-wing media against George W. Bush for eight years. Obama is taking a lot of heat for his mishandling of McChrystal and Afghanistan, deservedly so, and to ask the media or anyone else to refrain from harsh criticism is at best unreasonable and at worst absurd. It's no surprise that McChrystal continued to be a thorn in the side of the current administration concerning the Afghan war.

After reading the slovenly written Rolling Stone article and subsequent loose tongue that got McChrystal ousted from his position as allied commander, it appeared he was a man frustrated with the "business as usual" inept politics in Washington. What else would motivate a general to the extraordinary measure of insubordination via public criticism? Is it a good idea to undermine your leadership? Probably not, but when that leadership displays a spectacular lack of judgment and assimilation, it's understandable.

Jai Wynne

Yorktown

Partisan attacks

Obviously, Ed Prior has only recently started reading the columnists in the newspaper. He states that the columnists are spending their every waking moment trying to figure out how to attack Obama and the Democrats. He also said these attacks do not really contribute to understanding our problems or their solutions.

So where was Prior when those liberal columnists were all attacking President Bush or any other Republican they could find? Obviously, liberals want to dish it out but are up in arms when it gets tossed back their way. As he said, partisan attacks by the right or left do not contribute to understanding our problems or their solutions.

Richard Heidecker Sr.

Newport News

Teen wages

In "First job is key for teen success June 27," Kristen Lopez Eastlick pointed out that "many of the lessons learned with their very first paycheck -- punctuality, customer service, networking -- are instrumental in developing a promising career," and she lists the downsides of teens having no opportunities for paid employment.

Too bad that someone described as a senior economic analyst didn't mention and possibly doesn't even realize that minimum wage laws are a much bigger impediment to teen employment than lack of inspirational talk, forums and Facebook.

If first-job seekers could work for what they are worth rather than not work for an amount arbitrarily set by a Congress trying to look good and buy votes, teen employment would soar.

John Tindall

Williamsburg

Jones Act

I am appalled at the lack of fact checking and outright falsehoods attributed to the "Jones Act" printed in the opinion section of the Daily Press.

The Jones Act requires that ships carrying cargo from one U.S. port to another U.S. port must be built in the United States, fly our flag and be crewed by American citizens. It does not apply to vessels working outside of our national boundaries.

The drill ship Deepwater Horizon that started this ecological tragedy was flagged in the Marshall Islands. The Coast Guard Commandant, Adm. Thad Allen, has repeatedly stated that there have been no applications for Jones Act waivers and no foreign flag vessels have been turned away to assist in mitigating the unfolding crisis. Indeed it was reported on the front page of the Daily Press ("A whale-sized cleanup effort" June 26) that an 1,100 foot Liberian-flag converted "skimmer" ship had stopped in Norfolk on its way to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, without a Jones Act waiver.

The Jones Act exists to preserve the United States as a maritime nation. It provides vitally needed maritime employment to sustain our Merchant Marine enabling it to supply the United States military, as is being done for the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars, and insures that our safety and pollution laws are enforced. Virtually none of the non-naval construction or non-emergency repair work done in our area's local shipyards in the last 30 years would have taken place without the Jones Act.

Do we really want Cyprus-flagged tow boats plying the Mississippi River or the harbor tugs in Hampton Roads to be Panamanian flagged, foreign crewed and not subject to our regulations? Would we allow the Pakistani national airline to carry passengers or cargo from Chattanooga to Albuquerque? Of course not.

Why should protecting our sovereign maritime interests, as numerous other countries do, be considered detrimental?

Patrick M. Wright

Newport News

Leave Afghanistan

We need to get out of Afghanistan now.

The U.S. is in dire financial straits, and we cannot afford the $7 billion or so we waste each month in that country.

No Western invader has ever been successful in Afghanistan, and for the life of me I just can't understand why the U.S. thought it would be different.

The war in Afghanistan led to the downfall of the former Soviet Union, and I am afraid it is going to do the same to our country. No good is going to come from our involvement.